Rajiformes

Rajiformes is one of the four orders in the clade Batomorphi, often referred to as the superorder Batoidea, flattened cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. Rajiforms are distinguished by the presence of greatly enlarged pectoral fins, which reach as far forward as the sides of the head, with a generally flattened body. The undulatory pectoral fin motion diagnostic to this taxon is known as rajiform locomotion. The eyes and spiracles are located on the upper surface of the head and the gill slits are on the underside of the body. Most species give birth to live young, although some lay eggs enclosed in a horny capsule.

Rajiformes

Andy Martinez/NOAA · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
rayPBDB
Sits inside
BatomorphiiPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB
Life habit
nektobenthicPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB

Time the record covers

At least 201 million years on record.

The record covers at least 201.4 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 205.7 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Triassic — about 1 of 680 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 1 of 680 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 0 of 680 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 30 of 680 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 48 of 680 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 311 of 680 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 5 of 680 occurrencesEocene — about 43 of 680 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 111 of 680 occurrencesMiocene — about 77 of 680 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 33 of 680 occurrencesPleistocene — about 18 of 680 occurrences210–203 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences203–196 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences196–189 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences189–182 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences161–154 Mya — about 5 occurrences154–147 Mya — about 25 occurrences140–133 Mya — about 2 occurrences126–119 Mya — about 9 occurrences119–112 Mya — about 6 occurrences112–105 Mya — about 20 occurrences105–98 Mya — about 45 occurrences98–91 Mya — about 64 occurrences91–84 Mya — about 32 occurrences84–77 Mya — about 56 occurrences77–70 Mya — about 69 occurrences70–63 Mya — about 57 occurrences63–56 Mya — about 4 occurrences56–49 Mya — about 4 occurrences49–42 Mya — about 18 occurrences42–35 Mya — about 19 occurrences35–28 Mya — about 89 occurrences28–21 Mya — about 25 occurrences21–14 Mya — about 25 occurrences14–7.0 Mya — about 41 occurrences7.0–0 Mya — about 62 occurrences201.4 Mya11.7 ka210 Mya0 Mya

680 occurrences of Rajiformes on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

680 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

160 formations

Boom Clay — 51.13°N, 4.26°EBoom Clay — 51.12°N, 4.35°EBoom Clay — 51.19°N, 4.32°EBoom Clay — 51.16°N, 4.13°EFox Hills — 46.28°N, 100.52°WFox Hills — 46.26°N, 100.55°WFox Hills — 46.05°N, 103.88°WFox Hills — 46.47°N, 99.58°WFox Hills — 46.38°N, 100.85°WFox Hills — 46.29°N, 100.18°WFox Hills — 44.52°N, 102.39°WPaluxy — 32.00°N, 98.25°WPaluxy — 32.22°N, 98.20°WPaluxy — 33.50°N, 97.50°WPaluxy — 32.19°N, 97.86°WPaluxy — 32.95°N, 97.69°WPaluxy — 33.08°N, 97.64°WPaluxy — 33.15°N, 97.57°WPaluxy — 31.95°N, 97.89°WPaluxy — 33.03°N, 97.60°WPaluxy — 32.36°N, 97.99°WPaluxy — 31.87°N, 98.86°WPaluxy — 31.79°N, 98.83°WLower Kimmeridge marls — 51.90°N, 10.51°EMarnes de Donzacq — 43.75°N, 0.84°WMesaverde — 44.08°N, 107.74°WMesaverde — 44.10°N, 107.75°WMesaverde — 44.17°N, 107.81°WMiddle Kimmeridge marls — 51.90°N, 10.51°EPurisima — 37.29°N, 122.41°WLa Meseta — 64.23°S, 56.65°WBerchem — 51.20°N, 4.44°EDunvegan — 55.94°N, 118.72°WDunvegan — 55.92°N, 118.60°WDunvegan — 55.91°N, 118.35°WArenas de Huelva — 37.33°N, 6.68°WArenas de Huelva — 37.35°N, 6.61°WArenas de Huelva — 37.27°N, 6.84°WJudith River — 46.10°N, 109.10°WJudith River — 48.03°N, 109.01°WJudith River — 47.79°N, 108.94°WJudith River — 48.01°N, 108.91°WJudith River — 47.74°N, 108.96°WHunstanton — 54.15°N, 0.17°WHunstanton — 53.68°N, 0.50°WSternberg — 53.67°N, 11.82°EEutaw — 32.38°N, 84.93°WEutaw — 33.52°N, 88.40°WEutaw — 32.77°N, 87.87°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.76°N, 118.29°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.90°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.75°N, 118.29°WRupel — 51.22°N, 12.33°ERupel — 51.13°N, 12.21°EAguja — 29.10°N, 103.17°WAguja — 29.46°N, 103.56°WBahía Inglesa — 27.13°S, 70.83°WBahía Inglesa — 26.22°S, 70.72°WBahía Inglesa — 27.16°S, 70.89°WMdaouer — 32.85°N, 1.27°WTar Heel — 34.61°N, 78.60°WDongen — 52.73°N, 6.30°EDongen — 53.16°N, 6.22°ENeuhofen — 48.50°N, 14.28°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Rajiformes has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 136 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 186 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Rajiformes and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Rajiformes and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

2,476 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 489 sites for Rajiformes, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

228 references

Each of the 680 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 216 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Rajiformes

Credit
Andy Martinez/NOAA
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Rajiformes was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itBatomorphii through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Berg 1940)